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| A Journal News editorial

Two months and counting since the slaughter of innocents in nearby Newtown, Conn., Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has announced his “safer communities” response to the tragedy. It has nothing to do with gun control, firearm buybacks, or getting behind any of the controversial measures being pushed by the White House. It still represents new ground.

The first part of the initiative covers familiar territory: Astorino announced a symposium on school safety Feb. 27 at Purchase College, with former NYPD Commissioner William Bratton delivering the keynote. Experts from Westchester and beyond will detail best practices for improving school security.

A morning session will be open only to school and law enforcement officials; the public is invited to a panel discussion starting afterward.

The second part of the initiative may have wider utility in a society that records some 31,000 firearm deaths annually: Astorino announced a Community Violence Prevention Forum at the Westchester County Center on April 9. In a press statement, the administration said the county is collaborating with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “whose emphasis will be to address violence as a public health issue that affects all of our communities.”

Such perspective has been sorely lacking in the local and national discussion about gun violence; it has the potential to save lives — even without passing another gun-control measure.